5. Snow
Chapter five
Snow
It's fifteen minutes to midnight.
Regina retired two hours ago, so I must seize my chance.
This may be the only chance I ever get to escape her clutches. After all, she plans to kill me. Obviously, I am no longer safe.
It’s just sad that I have to leave my home behind. It was mine before it was ever hers, but she’s the queen of my father’s empire now, and I have to make peace with that.
If nothing else, it stopped being a home the day my father died.
There is nothing left for me here anymore.
Nothing.
With a deep breath, I pick up my meager bag of things and sneak out the attic. The stairs are rickety all the way down and certain steps squeak when I press my foot down, but somehow, I make it to the bottom without trouble.
Next, I tiptoe down the hall, stopping whenever she turns or snores in her sleep.
My heart thumps. Any moment, I expect her to come out of her room and order her men to kill me.
Why delay? If she wants me dead, then she should just get it over with.
With another deep breath, I move to the stairs. My plan is to leave through the kitchen when I make it to the lower level.
I left the back door unlocked.
Regina never goes in the kitchen, anyway; she wouldn’t have noticed.
After several more heart-stopping minutes, I finally reach the kitchen. All I have to do now is creep across the grounds and avoid the detection of her guards.
They will be on patrol tonight. My stepmother really is meticulous. No stone left unturned where that one’s concerned.
With a deep breath, I open the door, using the cool veil of night as cover as the damp grass sticks to my feet.
My eyes dart around the grounds, searching every dark shadow. So far, so good.
No guards stop my progress.
The gate hovers into view, and my heart rate picks up speed as I near the old wrought iron.
Fear seizes my muscles next, trapping me in its chokehold.
In my whole life, I have hardly stepped foot out of these gates. Daddy always told me that the world outside was dangerous, and that many people would hurt me, but what’s the alternative?
There’s someone who wants to hurt me at home, too.
He's not around anymore to protect me, so I must do what I can to survive.
A handsome face appears between the gaps of the gate. He’s here, just as he promised.
Ferdinand.
As I takes a step toward him, the birds begin to chirp in the trees.
It's the middle of the night, a time when they’re usually silent with sleep like every other forest creature, yet the ruckus that takes over the grounds is startling.
I hesitate. What if they wake Regina?
It's like they’re calling me back. All the animals.
It's as if my kingdom doesn’t want me to leave, but I can’t stay.
I refuse to be a victim of that woman.
She can have this kingdom. There is nothing for me here anymore. I move forward.
The animals don’t stop, even when I reach Ferdinand at the gate, the one that is surprisingly unlocked.
His smile is comforting, yet the birds still cry for my return.
It's as if they recognize me as their queen. As if they know, instinctually, that if I leave, they will be left to the mercy of Regina.
But I must go.
For Daddy and Mama, I will live and find a life for myself elsewhere.
“Thank goodness. I thought you wouldn’t make it. Did she hear you?” he asks.
I stop to think. “No. She never stirred. She always sleeps like a baby. Nothing ever disturbs her.”
Ferdinand smiles like a gentleman, and I regard him for a moment. Shouldn’t he know that?
After all, he has slept with her, hasn’t he?
Regina has had all kinds of men in her room. But maybe I had just assumed she’d had Ferdinand in her room, too.
For all I know, he could just be an associate. A business partner, rather than a bed partner.
I just hope he truly has my best interests at heart.
He pauses.“What’s wrong, Snow? Are you having doubts?”
I gaze down at the ground. I’m not sure. Who can I trust in this world? I’m so na?ve and green, it hurts.
“Hey,” he steps closer, gripping my shoulder gently.
I look into his earnest eyes.
Would I even be able to tell a dishonest man from an honest one?
Daddy loved me, and he did well to hide his true nature from me, but I was still aware.
I was too bright for my age, after all. Too precocious.
“You can trust me, Snow. I only want what is best for you. Your father was like an uncle to me. He and my dad went way back.”
My eyes widen. “They do?”
He nods. “Yes. School friends.”
I never had a school friend. I was home-schooled.
I’m fluent in several languages, though, and I know how to conduct myself in front of important dignitaries.
At least I have that going for me. I could move to France, Spain, or even Japan.
I could make this world my oyster.
“Here, let me take your pack.”
He removes the pack from my shoulder and then reaches his arm out for me. “Well, let’s go.”
I pause, taking one last look at my old kingdom.
I will never see it again.
My home, the place where my parents raised me…
I was happy here. We were all happy once.
But this is my only path forward.
It's time for a new life now.
Fighting back tears, I turn my back on my old kingdom.
Time for a new beginning.
Ferdinand takes a shortcut through the woods.
We’re twenty miles away from the city. I assumed that’s where we would have gone, but he tells me his car is parked deep in the woods so Regina wouldn’t find us.
We’ve been trekking through the woods for at least an hour, and when the clouds cover the moon, I shiver.
It's grown cold.
Ferdinand stopped talking about twenty minutes ago. He was chatty at the start, but he has grown more distant as time creeps on.
“How much farther?” I ask.
He stiffens, turning his head just slightly and only giving me his chiseled profile.
“Not far now, Snow…”
Okay.
Something isn’t right. I should have known better than to trust some beautiful stranger, but he promised me an escape.
So, I took the chance.
Was he the one who unlocked the front gate? How did Regina never notice?
Unless… she already knew.
It does strike me as odd how a woman as intelligent and cunning as her would leave the gate unlocked.
And not one of the guards stopped me either.
In fact, none of them seemed to be working tonight.
Again, it’s odd, but I hold my head high, keeping a careful eye on Ferdinand. He's bathed in shadow, and in that moment, he looks… wrong.
Like a demon from the pits of hell.
I suck in a breath. “Surely, your car must be close.”
He huffs, a rather irate sound, and fixes his eyes on me. For a moment, I spy a monster, the same one my Daddy always tried to hide from me.
But I still saw it several times in my life, and the hair rises at the back of my neck.
Yes, always trust your gut, Snow. Ferdinand is not your friend...
The monster vanishes, and soon it’s replaced by that handsome, charming male again. “Not to worry, sweet Snow. We’re almost there now.”
I’m sure we are.
Still, I’ll be on my best guard. “All right.”
Another ten minutes pass by. The forest has grown dark, and it seems the moon won’t return.
He stops, groaning as he facepalms. “Oh, dear… it seems I have forgotten where I’ve parked my car.”
I don’t say anything. I keep my eyes on him at all times, preparing to bolt.
The moment this goes pear-shaped, I will run.
That’s if I can outrun him.
This was a mistake. I never should have trusted him.
Finally, he turns my way, and it just so happens that the clouds move. Moonlight bathes his face in an eerie glow, and there he is again, the monster.
The men in my life have always been monsters…
But the only difference between my dad and this monster was that he loved me.
This one, though. He is dangerous.
I guess my stepmother planned this all along.
Brilliant. Truly.
Is he going to carve out my heart and place it in a box just for her?
Over my dead body.
“Were you lying to me this whole time?”
Ferdinand’s eyes flare, and I wonder what theater he trained at because for a moment, I truly thought he was genuine.
Looks like he definitely got his money’s worth.
He's a fine actor.
“Oh, sweet Snow. It seems you are smarter than Regina gave you credit for. But honestly, what else did you expect? There is no one left in this world who loves you… No more Daddy to fight your battles. You’re alone. Truly. It’s sad, really. It almost makes me pity you.”
Once again, I fight back tears, never taking my hateful gaze off him.
He pities me?
He's the puppet here. Regina is the one pulling his strings.
“What did she offer you?”
He raises his head, eyes blazing. “A kingdom…”
I snort. “She would never share. You must have figured that out by now, Ferdinand. If that’s even your name.”
A smirk snakes across his twisted face, and then he chuckles. “Oh, it is my name, Sweet Snow.”
“Don’t call me sweet. I am far from sweet…”
He barks a laugh. “Says the girl who rescues birds! Admit it. You are weak. Just as your father made you.”
I show my teeth. “Don’t you talk about my father…”
His eyes flash, and then he stumbles forward. “Your father was a cunt!”
That much I already know, but still, no one gets to talk that way about my father. Least of all a puppet.
“She would make you a king consort at most, but even then, Ferdinand, that would be all she gave you. You are nothing to her. Just another puppet to do her bidding.”
He growls and rushes forth, aiming a knife at me. But he’s sloppy, and I manage to evade his thrusts.
He won’t get his hands on me.
Unfortunately, he manages to knock me off my feet, and I fall onto the ground.
Shit, shit, shit.
Fear grips my lungs as I crawl away, but he grabs my ankle, yanking me back. My fingers grasp the undergrowth desperately, bringing up clumps of earth and twigs as I hold on for dear life.
No. It can't end like this. I won't let it.
So, when my fingers find a rock, I waste no time, swinging it around to make contact with his skull.
The blow knocks him out cold, and I stare at his fallen body for a moment.
Is he…?
I move closer, and I hear his labored breaths.
There’s a huge, bloody gash on the side of his head, and the same blood drips from the rock in my hand.
I gasp, dropping the rock as I stare at my hands.
Have I just become a monster? One like my father?
All these years, he tried to protect me from this world, but it looks like it only managed to catch up with me.
Mama said to always be kind and gracious, even to those who are ungracious to us, but I had no choice.
He was going to kill me…
He groans on the floor, and the sound strangles me, stealing the breath from my lungs.
I hurt someone.
I do the only thing I can think of.
I run.
Run like a helpless princess in a fairy tale.
A princess who hurts people.
The branches whip me across the face like claws, and I’m sure they grip me at one point, ensnaring me.
The forest is alive. The trees become monsters with teeth and claws, but the most frightening part…
I am the worst monster of them all.
I didn’t even stop to see if Ferdinand lived. I just ran, thinking of myself.
The trees let me go, and I bolt yet again, having no idea where my feet lead me.
So long as it is far, far away.
This world is not safe. Father was right all along because it only managed to destroy me in the end.
I trip over a root and stumble down a hill. Thorns and bramble prick my skin, and I wrap my arms around my face to protect my eyes.
It's only when I stop rolling that I’m able to get back to my feet.
Unfortunately, another pair of claws grip me, placing a handkerchief over my mouth, and the last thing I see before the darkness consumes me is a lone eye of ice blue, the eye of an avenging angel.
I’m done for.
I guess my father’s enemies would have always found a way of capturing me in the end.